Finally getting to review a Harold Lloyd film after all these years. I may as well start with definitely the most famous Lloyd film and arguably the most famous Hal Roach film ever, SAFETY LAST! For those of you who don’t know Harold Lloyd, you’re probably familiar with the scene of the man in the glasses hanging off a clock while climbing a building. SAFETY LAST! is the film that has this iconic scene. While Lloyd climbing the building is the highlight of the film, I hope to convince you all that there is much more to this film than the iconic and thrilling climb. The entire film is a wonderful combination of gags and storytelling that live with each other, not next to each other. So many features from other comedians we have discussed have a dramatic and comedic element that are usually separate from each other. In SAFETY LAST!, the dramatic and comedic elements are intertwined, the story moving along while at the same time never forgetting to get a laugh or thrill from the audience. There are also thematic elements in SAFETY LAST! and old Metaldams is going to go psychological on you all.
Think about any scene in this movie - it doesn’t have to be climbing the building, and I promise you something funny or clever is happening or is about to happen. As something funny or clever is happening, the story is still being told. Whether it is Harold leaving his home town of Great Bend to go to the big city (an intro that borrows a clever idea from Buster Keaton’s COPS with the camera angle making a train station appear to be a jail cell), Lloyd and his roommate hiding from the landlady to avoid rent (curling their hidden bodies in coats on a hangar), trying to get back to work after the towel truck takes him away (camera trickery trying to hop a crowded train, the fire hydrant parking ticket with the man he hitchhikes with), Harold’s friend avoiding the cop by both climbing the building and setting up the climax, Harold’s various ways of sneaking back into work without letting on he’s late and especially the way he has to lie to his girl to make it look like he’s reached the top of the business world. The gags are endless and come as literately and cleverly as imaginable. There is not enough bandwidth on this website for me to describe them all, just savor each one and multiple viewings will reveal new things. For me on this recent viewing, I noticed Harold tightening his belt as he had to skip a meal so he could buy his girl a gold chain. A subtle bit of business I never noticed before.
The girl and the relationship. Unlike so many comedies, the relationship here is interesting, very interesting. This would be the final Lloyd role for Mildred Davis. She has been Lloyd’s leading lady since late 1919 and would go on to be Harold Lloyd’s real life wife. Her roles are what I call comically girlish and usually very sweet and innocent. Once Jobyna Ralston joined Lloyd, the leading lady role matured. In Davis’s final role, there is some innocence in Davis’s character, but let’s just say with a cynical edge bubbling under. Guys, I don’t know about you, but I’d steer clear of this girl. Notice the pure look of disappointment on her face when for one second she sees Harold for what he really is, a customer service guy, versus a high rolling corporate official he’s falsely presenting himself as. Notice the total glee she takes seeing Harold’s big office - in reality his boss’s office, but Harold cleverly lies about that one. Pushing the buttons on the desk to bring out various servants - she loves that. Make no mistake about it, this is a girl who wants to be attached to power and Harold has no problem portraying power, even if he has to fake it until he makes it like he says in a title card earlier in the film. Lying to his girl, his boss, his co-workers, it doesn’t matter. This is one screwed up relationship, but done so absurdly and over the top that the comic possibilities are endlessly mined. Perhaps in a way this is a precursor to screwball comedy, an entire genre known for comically screwed up relationships.
Finally, there’s the main event, Harold literally climbing his way to the top in one of the most iconic scenes in film comedy history. Just like all the other scenes, the gags come fast and furious while moving the story forward but in this case, due to the situation, there are lots of thrills involved. Harold Lloyd did thrill scenes like this in previous shorts like HIGH AND DIZZY and NEVER WEAKEN but the idea reaches its peak in SAFETY LAST! The net falling on Harold, the board coming out the window, the pigeons flying on Harold, hanging off the clock, falling in the clock and getting an electric shock....just one thrill after the other. When you guys hear me complain about slick studio era comedies doing thrill scenes and chases in the talkie era, it’s scenes like this that spoil me. No phony back drops here. Yes, Harold’s not quite in danger as it appears due to the angles and hills this was filmed on, but the effect looks completely real and natural versus phony backdrops we are used to seeing in other films. This is the real deal, a truly classic thrill comedy scene in which all others are measured against. No words of mine can do this justice.
So SAFETY LAST! is a thrill comedy classic with gags all over the place, wonderful storytelling and if you look deep enough, hints of cynicism - but never poured on too hard. The first time I saw Harold Lloyd he had a night dedicated to him on TCM back in - I want to say 2002 - 18 years ago, where does the time go?This was the first of five films they showed that night, the others being GIRL SHY, HOT WATER, THE KID BROTHER and SPEEDY. What a memorable night and SAFETY LAST! was a great way for me to be introduced to Lloyd. If you’ve never seen Harold Lloyd before, watch the link in this video, maybe you’ll become a fan too.
